Tuesday 29 April 2014

Middle Eastern Pancakes with Dates

These pancakes are a bit different than usual as I decided to give them a Middle Eastern/Arabic touch by adding ingredients such as rose water, orange blossom water and also sweet spices such as aniseed and cardamom. I made these for breakfast, they were very filling and very very tasty and as an accompaniment I stewed some dates which added a lot of sweetness. Give them a go, they are a different delicious take on the classic pancakes. For 4-6 pancakes you will need...
  • 1 cup (about 125 g) plain flour
  • 1 cup (about 235 ml) whole milk
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 1 ripe banana, mashed
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  • 1 tsp orange blossom water
  • ½ tsp rose water
  • ¼ tsp ground aniseed
  • ¼ tsp ground cardamom
  • 100g chopped dates
  • 2 tbsp water
  • Small knob of butter

How to...
  1. In a large bowl put all ingredients apart from the dates & 2 tbsp water and mix well until you get a smooth batter.
  2. Grease a non stick pan with a knob of butter and spread across the pan with a piece of kitchen towel.
  3. Heat up the pan on a medium heat until well hot, drain any excess butter.
  4. Always on a medium heat, ladle the batter into the pan and leave to cook until the pancake starts producing bubbles on top. When the surface is bubbly and pancake looks set, flip the pancake and cook for a couple of seconds. Repeat until all batter is used.
  5. Keep pancakes warm and in the meantime, prepare the dates by adding the dates and 2 tablespoons of water to the same pancake pan and warm enough until dates are soft and mushy.
  6. Spoon the date mixture on the piled pancakes and serve warm!!


Enjoy!!
R&A

Pasta Mediterranea - Mediterranean Style Pasta

The Mediterranean diet is without doubt one of the best in the world; healthy, diverse and full of flavour. Ingredients like olives, capers and anchovies gives the accompanying pasta a unique taste of various Mediterranean flavours. In need of an oomph I also added a tablespoon of Harissa to the dish which gave it a distinct Tunisian touch. If you do not like the spicy kick that the Harissa provides you can always substitute it with tomato paste. I created this dish at about 6am to take with me at work and it turned out delicious. Give it a go and you will do this dish again...guaranteed...this amounts below are for 2-3 people. You will need...
  • 6 baby plum or cherry tomatoes
  • 1 green pepper, de-seeded and sliced
  • 6-8 green olives with stone in
  • 1 tbsp capers (optional)
  • 1 tsp harissa or tomato paste
  • 1 tin anchovies, chopped [omit if vegan]
  • 1 garlic clove, finely chopped or crushed
  • 6 fresh basil leaves, hand torn
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • Olive oil [I used the oil from the anchovies]

How to...
  1. Start by cooking the pasta al dente and set aside.
  2. Heat about a tablespoon of the olive oil and the garlic on medium heat, when garlic is golden, add pepper, anchovies and tomatoes and cook until soft (about 5-8 minutes), stirring frequently.
  3. Now add olives, capers, harissa/tomato paste, basil leaves and black pepper, stir well and sauté for another 3-4 minutes.
  4. At this time mix the pasta and mixture together.
  5. Serve warm.


Enjoy!!
R&A